


Appeal to Compassion and Tentative Rebuilding of Worlds

by Diary



Category: Emmerdale
Genre: Aaron Dingle and Robert Sugden Get Married, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Bechdel Test Fail, Canon Bisexual Character, Canon Gay Character, Conversations, Family, Love, Multi, Paddy Kirk is Aaron Dingle's Dad, Past/Mentioned Suicidal Thoughts
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-24
Updated: 2017-01-24
Packaged: 2018-09-19 16:04:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,702
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9449393
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Diary/pseuds/Diary
Summary: AU. On his wedding day, Robert comes and has a soul-bearing talk with Paddy. Complete.





	

**Author's Note:**

> I do not own Emmerdale.

Opening the door, Paddy immediately pleads, “God, tell me he’s not done something else already. Is he alright?”

“Aaron’s fine,” Robert assures him. “And no, he’s not done anything. He’s about to, though, and that’s what I want to talk to you about?”

“Why in the hell are you here instead of stopping him?” Going inside, Paddy grabs his phone. “Right, you might not know where he is. I’ll call Marlon. Where did you last see him, and-”

Halting his movements, Robert takes the phone. “Paddy, Aaron is fine. I didn’t mean- Look at my suit.”

Paddy does. “Oh. You and he are about to get married, aren’t you? Still, you didn’t leave him alone with Chas, did you? I can’t imagine she’s taking this well. Or does she know?”

“She knows, and she’s not thrilled it’s happening like this, but she’s happy for us.”

“Well, you know I’m not,” is the simple response. “So does he. Best not be late.”

“I’ve been here for him,” Robert quietly declares. “Not just during the trial. When Liv was waging war against me, I stayed. In the car, I stayed until I could get him out. With all this that’s happened recently, I’ve been here. Do you really find it so hard to believe a person- I’m not denying any of the cheating I did in the past, or the lying, or any other bad thing I'm guilty of. But do you really believe a person who’s done all I have can’t find one person they want to change for and spend the rest of their life with? All I want is him, Paddy. I want to marry him and always have him in my bed. I’m always going to flirt, but- he’s it for me.”

“And I’m not doing anything to stop it. You’re the one who’s wasting time on what you know is a fruitless endeavour instead of being near your fiancé on your wedding day,” Paddy says.

Robert sighs. “It’d mean the world to him if you were there.”

“And it’d mean the world to me if I could be happy for him on his wedding day and share the joy of it with him. We don’t all get the world, Robert, especially when people like you will trample us to take it.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

Shaking his head, Paddy rubs his temple. “Never mind. If you’re serious about marrying him, then, I suggest you head off. I plan to stay here, catch up on some paperwork, and if I catch Aaron around town later, I’ll buy him a pint. Just because I don’t agree with his choice, he will have undertaken a major life step.”

“And you and I will just, what, share his time, ignore one another when do find ourselves in the same room, always polite enough, never making any effort to find common ground?”

“Aaron is our common ground,” Paddy answers. “And yes. If our polite détente fails to stand, that will be on you. Either because you did something to him or because you simply wouldn’t let it. For Aaron’s sake, I will tolerate being in the same room with you when I have to, I will show you common courtesy, and I won’t protest when he spends most of his time with his husband.”

“I don’t want this for him.”

“More common ground. Believe me, if you want to call off the engagement, even knowing how much it’ll hurt him, I won’t attempt to stop you. If you don’t want to have to deal with me in his life, well, who can say how that will go?”

“He’s your son,” Robert says. “Your girlfriend brought along this seventeen-year-old kid, and before either of you knew it, Aaron had the dad he always deserved, and you had a son.”

“Yes. I’ve always tried to be there for him, and sometimes, I’ve failed, but yes, he is my son,” Paddy says. “So is Leo. When it comes to you shooting me and trying to suffocate me with grain, whether you care or not, I’ve forgiven you for that. You aren’t the first or last person in this town to manage to get your hands on an illegal weapon and be stupid with it or to just attack someone to cover up your misdeeds. But you hurt my boys, Robert. You had that gun pointed at a bleeding, tied up Aaron.”

Sighing heavily, Paddy continues, “Every day of my life, I worry about Leo. What if a bully targets him at school? What if someone hurts him like Gordon hurt Aaron? What if he accidentally burns himself or gets into knives or wanders out into traffic? What if, when he’s older, he realises he’s different and feels outcast? I suppose, technically, you didn’t hurt him. But this little boy, this little boy who might always need special help and protection even when he’s grown, you threatened him.”

Robert shifts his weight.

“There’s this saying, ‘Your world ends, and then, life continues.’ Uh, it’s more of a paraphrase than a direct quote. If the affair hadn’t been exposed, you’d still be with Chrissie right now. There’s a good chance you’d still be with Aaron, too."

"But it was, and you adapted. In all sincerity, I do admire your adaption skills. You were willing to physically hurt me and Aaron both to keep your world from ending. You were willing to threaten an innocent child, an innocent child with Down’s Syndrome, to keep it from ending. All that, and it did. That doesn’t come close to making up for or wiping away the hurt you caused before it did.”

“Fair enough." Looking down, Robert shifts some more, and then, taking a breath, he looks up. “This is something I never want Aaron to know. I’m telling you, because, whether you believe me or not, I know it’s something he’ll never hear from you."

"We both found ourselves in a car when we were nineteen. I didn’t do what he did, obviously. My self-preservation won out. But, uh,” taking another breath, he rubs at his eyes, “when I was nineteen, one night, I let myself into Cain’s garage, I put the key in the ignition, and sat there all night, debating. The windows were up. Should I turn the key?”

“Aaron’s sympathetic, but even he doesn’t really understand- I know nothing excuses everything I’ve done, Paddy. But my dad was my world. And once I brought Andy ‘round, I wasn’t his boy anymore. I was hardly even his son. Pile on the fact, I was a smart lad, and AIDs and HIV came around when I was a kid. I liked watching the news and reading papers. I knew about it.”

“When I was fifteen, we had this lad helping out on the farm, and it was challenging and fun to talk to him. I- I wanted him. Probably not sex, but I wanted to kiss him and hold his hand and- I wanted him. Dad caught me kissing him, and after sacking him and leathering me, we never talked about it. Since I liked girls, I decided I’d only ever like them.”

“All that, and I kept making a mess of my life. When I thought everything was finally sorted, I was finally someone my dad would proud of, Lawrence dragged us back, and everything just quickly went out the window when I met Aaron. I didn’t mean for it to happen, but it did.”

Giving a small laugh, Robert continues, “I wish I could take back all that I’ve done to you, the fact I threatened Leo, a large amount of stuff I did to Aaron and even Chrissie. But the thing is, I’m glad my world ended, Paddy."

"All my life, I’ve been trying to be Jack Sugden’s son, suave Robert with all the money and gorgeous women falling all over me, the one who never fell in puppy love at fifteen and ended up having his first actual experience with another bloke as a meaningless one-night stand. Now, I’m just me. Maybe that person isn’t always good and kind and handles everything the right way, but I love Aaron, and I’m always going to try to do right by him, now and until my last day.”

“Besides what it’d mean to him, it’d mean a lot to me if his dad would try to give me a chance. You had so much compassion for him. Couldn’t you find some for that little boy who never felt good enough for his dad, that fifteen-year-old who was punished just for fancying someone, that nineteen-year-old sat in a garage and looking at the unturned key in the ignition?”

Paddy sighs. “I’ll go change.”

Giving him a startled look, Robert asks, “Really? Does that mean-”

“That I’m coming to Aaron’s wedding? Yes. I- The answer is, yes, I do a new measure of sympathy for you, Robert. However, the honest  truth is I still don’t trust or like you. I probably never will. But if you do Aaron right, there’s a chance I could, someday. Just know that, if you don’t, none of this sympathy will stop me from trying to make sure you’re permanently removed from his life.”

“I understand. Thank you.”

…

“Paddy.” Aaron’s eyes light up.

They hug, and keeping an arm around him, Paddy says, “Robert came by for a chat. Listen- I’m still not sure about this, but I love you, and if he can and will make you happy, I want that for you." He smiles slightly. "So, I’m going to try giving him a chance, yeah? We’ll likely never be mates, but if he’s going to love you and take care of you, then, I can set aside the past.”

“Thanks, Paddy,” Aaron softly says. “You don’t know what this means.”

Moving, Paddy inspects Aaron’s tie and readjusts a button. “As sharp as ever,” he says with an affectionate look. “I am proud of you. I hope this is your first and last marriage, and I hope it brings you great happiness.”

Aaron nods.

“Now, come on. You and Robert are duty-bound to protect me if your mum objects to my presence, eh?”


End file.
